Rarotonga - Land of the 3 legged dog!

I took a few days off from laying in the sun and flying to pacific atolls to work at Esther Honey Foundation.  EHF is a charity helping animals in the South Pacific. As in a lot of developing countries dogs roam free even if they are owned. The major problem here is road traffic accident - it's a island full of 3 legged dogs!

My first morning this big boy came in having been run over - it initially looked very bad with very laboured breathing. The clinic had an x-ray machine and we snapped a pic of his chest. We then had to drive 2 km on a moped to the local hospital to have it digitally processed! Fortunately over the next few days he made a good improvement - these island dogs are tough!

A lot of Australian veterinary student and veterinary nurses come over to volunteer here. 

What happens to the operating room when a dog wakes up badly from an anaesthetic!

Lee and Bailey from Oz working on a dog

 
I was presented with a a dog with a large mass in his mouth - probably an acanthomatous epulis - rostral mandibulectomy probably would have been the op of choice but in the islands as soon as dogs  go home they are out roaming the streets, eating bones etc. I decided a mandibulectomy would be too great a risk for wound breakdown - so I did a wedge excision instead - a compromise - but  that's the situation  in developing countries - whether it be through lack of equipment, lack of drugs or qualified staff. But we do the best we can...

Saying goodbye to the team as they raise funds for Esther Honey at the Saturday market.

Sri Lanka Veterinary Experiences

Like a lot of developing countries Sri Lanka has a huge street dog problem - an estimated 3 million dogs roam this small islands' streets. Of course many of them are happy and healthy - and many of them although not actually "owned" are part of the community.

 The biggest issue of course is lack of neutering - the sheer volume of dogs means that problems occur and disease is rife.This has a major impact on human life through the transmission of rabies - Sri Lanka has one of the highest death rates in the world.

                                    Mission Rabies has done a lot to reduce the incidence in developing countries                                          Link to Mission Rabies Sri Lanka

Government resources are stretched due to the economic problems the country has - therefore street dog care is often provided by NGO's

I visited a shelter called Animals SOS www.animalsos-sl.com on the South Coast of Sri Lanka to see what was happening...

Animals SOS

Lots of shelter from the hot sun

The charity has a big compound about 10 miles from the coast amongst lovely paddy fields. There are over 1000 dogs here. The concept of pet ownership is not a normal part of Sri Lankan culture and as a result adoption rates are low 

The charity have opted to keep most of the dogs they rescue here at the sanctuary which of course means large feeding and wage bills.  In other countries I have been to a policy of Trap Neuter Release (TNR) is adopted. Dogs are brought to the shelter - vaccinated, neutered and then released back where they were picked up. This means the charities' shelter doesn't become overcrowded and funds are directed at neutering as many dogs as possible 

Operating Room

In action!

An area where I struggled was the shelters' non-euthanasia policy.

From the Animal SOS Volunteer Guide ....

"Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country so euthanasia is very frowned upon. Our charity/sanctuary operates a strict no-kill policy unless an animal is suffering and beyond all help. Most animals arrive in the most appalling states and in western veterinary practices many of these animals would be euthanased on arrival"

Of course I respect cultural differences but in my opinion having a this kind of policy is too inflexible and can lead to shelter animals having an unacceptably poor quality of life. Sadly I made the decision to cut short my time at Animals SOS - as a vet I am privileged to have the ability to end a suffering pets' life peacefully by euthanasia - to have the right taken away was something I couldn't accept..

Paralysed dogs being exercised in carts.

Long term paralysed resident - pressure sores can be a problem...

While I was in Ella in the middle of Sri Lanka  I spotted a Government Veterinary Office and popped in to have a look round. 

They are mostly concerned with large animal health - cattle, sheep, pigs and goats - diseases like Foot and Mouth and Brucellosis are still a major problem here. 

              They also do a little bit of small animal work from their outdoor consultation room 

I liked to innovative use of a drip to water the plants and used vaccine bottles to make a model of the practice! Obviously some days are quiet!

Interesting photo from the Hindu north - where cows are revered...

Zanzibar Animal Affection Society

While on Zanzibar I took time off from lazing on the beach to spend some time at ZAASO (Zanzibar Animal Affection Society) The charity was started in 2009 by a Dutchwoman called Anna.  On an island of nearly 2 million people it us the only charity of its type.

 ZAASO fulfils a number of functions.  It acts as a rescue and rehoming centre. ZAASO will take in stray and abandoned animals as well as pets that owners are unable to take care of anymore.
In addition ZAASO provides a veterinary service - Anna employs a full time vet - Flav Ferdinand.

Anna - founder of ZAASO

Full time vet - Flav Ferdinand.

 There is no othopaedic or xray equipment so broken legs are often amputated...

 

After the amputation I had to do it a bit of human work on one of the staff who had cut his hand...

 

 Every Saturday ZAASO run a clinic for local people - it really is all creatures great and small. Farmers bring their cows and goats for vitamin and ivermectin injections.  But we also saw dogs and cats for routine worming, vaccinations etc.  In Tanzania there is not a strong pet owning culture like Europe or the US.

 Prices are low - £3 for a rabies vaccination, the same price to sedate a cat and lance an abscess!
Drug supplies are variable - pain relief seems in short supply. There are no opiates. Injectable antibiotics are limited too and Pen-Strep is the most common drug used

Anaesthesia is injection only - xylazine and ketamine almost exclusively.

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There was no pentobarbitone so euthanasia was performed by giving iv xylazine-ketamine and the intra-cardiac lidocaine ( IC levamisole or chlorhexidine can work also)

 

 

 Infectious disease is a big problem for dogs here -  Distemper particularly is still common. Rabies is also still an issue here - there is no mandatory vaccination and human cases still occur.

 

 

Lumpy Skin Disease

Purple spray is a worldwide phenomenon!!

ZAASO also has a strong history of helping the donkeys of Zanzibar. Donkeys are traditionally use to pull carts - transporting goods around Stone Town.  The drivers tend to be hard on the poor animals - heavy loads,  poor nutrition and being beaten by sticks while working.  Anna will stop her car in the street and snatch the stick if she sees this!!
Anna is known to the locals as "Mama Punda"  Swahili for "Mother Donkey"!

The donkeys can also suffer machete attacks. Jealousy and business conflict can make drivers attack each others animals. An increasing problem is road traffic accident - traffic in Stone Town is hectic and a lot of the driving is very bad.  



 

Donkey arriving at the clinic after a RTA...

 At the end of the Saturday clinic and donkey was brought in with a fractured spine - sadly it had to be euthanased. A factor in performing euthanasia here is that the Koran forbids it - with 95% of the Zanzibar population being Muslim that can create some welfare issues.

They do a lot of housecalls on various parts of the island as well as a surgical service from the purpose built clinic.

Donkey Pregnancy Diagnosis

There is only 1 vet school here for a population of nearly 40  million Only 60 vets are produced per year. Like Uganda there are diploma holders who can do a 2 year course but are seen as many people as fully qualified.. which must be a frustrating situation for the real vets.

It was also great to chat with Flav after work over a cold Safari beer - conveniently the local pub was 2 minutes walk - his tales if veterinary life in Tanzania made routine vax, nail clips and V&D seem a little dull...

One time while a 4th year student  seeing practice - he got called to a sudden death cow - on his own.. his supervising vet was eating dinner - in East Africa the differential is either cyanide poisoning (from banana leaves) or anthrax...before he even got there the beast had been dismembered.. a dead animal is food.. immediately he suspected anthrax - samples were taken and instructions given not to eat any part of this animal - he rushed to the lab and it was confirmed!  Everyone in the vicinity had to have penicillin shots - but sadly body parts had already been secreted away... an old woman had eaten part of the liver and died 2 days later - the guy who had held the animal got cutaneous anthrax and had to have his arm amputated.. such is the lot of a veterinary surgeon in East Africa...
Another time he got called into the Serengeti - to pin a lions leg - the etorphine lasted a little longer than they reckoned - 12 hours later he woke - and ran off into the  bush - so much for cage rest!!

Another story also involved a lion - during an anaesthesia a student thought it would be fun to wave the lions tail - the surgeon catching the sight of this out the corner of his eye understandably freaked and made a swift exit.. the students thought this was hilarious - but I can understand the surgeons response..!

That brought my time at ZAASO to an end - thanks so much to Anna and Flav for hosting me - I'm sure they would appreciate it if any UK vets or nurses went over to help - Zanzibar is a beautiful place to volunteer